Gulf Islands property owners can expect much larger numbers on their notices from BC Assessment when they arrive in the mail this week — or when they check online as of today (Tuesday).
BC Assessment says values for Vancouver Island and Gulf Islands properties rose between 15 and 35 per cent, with the increase for a typical Gulf Islands residence rising 35.4 per cent, from $584,000 to $791,000.
For people who can’t wait for the assessment notice to arrive in the mail, the updated values are already on the bcassessment.ca website. People can type in their address to see how their property was valued as of July 1, 2021.
“Vancouver Island’s real estate market has increased in value across all property types over the past year,” stated Vancouver Island deputy assessor Jodie MacLennan in a Jan. 4 press release. “Increases of 15 to 35 per cent are generally evident for single family dwellings, strata homes, industrial and commercial properties throughout the island with notably larger per cent increases in both central and northern Vancouver Island communities.”
An increase in property value does not automatically translate to higher property taxes, as taxing authorities can adjust their mil rates. However, when it comes to bodies like the Capital Regional District, if the value of one’s property increases more than the average in the CRD, a tax increase will result for region-wide CRD services.
As well, local government bodies like the CRD, Islands Trust, North Salt Spring Waterworks District and Salt Spring Island Fire Protection District have already approved or are proposing 2022 budgets with increases ranging from 3.2 to nine per cent.
These latest assessments should all be challenged as totally vacuous, unsubstantiated evaluations having nothing to do with any tangible reasoning particularly, the dwellings themselves which are naturally eroding, not somehow, bizarrely becoming less worn and weathered. I would suggest flooding the appeals court, this is a quick and dirty property tax grab cloaked In the illusion of an imaginative and arbitrarily inflated valuation. In a word, corrupt, taxation without representational truth.
Absolutely. Property values did not actually rise 35% in the past year on the gulf islands…what a joke. The real estate market confirms this…. purely a tax grab. I will be appealing mine 100%. They are claiming a fantasy number which isn’t actually possible to get on the market, so it’s not really worth that number at all. They just want the tax money! Greedy greedy greedy.
I totally agree with Paul and Cliff (below). Our assessment went up 133% !!! How is that even possible???!!! And this on a house that is far from finished, is still under construction, a few acres not developed or landscaped in any way and is in construction chaos. A complete tax grab. I will be loudly protesting this increase.